Wandless Magic
by Attamisk
Summary: Hermione Granger is a rarity, Following Hermione through school and beyond, discovering her abilities, and her attempts to keep them quiet, all the while falling for the one person she thinks she can never have, her closest friend and the only student that knows what she's capable of, Ginny Weasley. Just read it I'm bad at summaries. HG/GW, HP/LL. Rating may change.
1. Prologue: Of Hermione's Problem

**A/N: I originally wrote this as an experiment, and am going to keep going, this chapter has been gone over and fixed several mistakes, however i am horrid at grammer and spelling and i have no editor, so... there are likely still at least a few mistakes, i apologize for that. This is going to serve as a prologue for the story itself, so yes, this exact scene will show up again... much later, you'll see what i mean after reading Chapter 1, which should be up soon, if its not already.**

**Disclaimer: I DO NOT OWN HARY POTTER.**

**WARNING: This would eventually be HG/GW so if your not a fan, you probably won't like this project after the first couple instalments.**

**I've rambled enough for now i think though, so... ON WITH THE SHOW!**

**Tech note: _Italics are thoughts inside a characters head._**

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Prologue: Of Hermione's Problem.

Later that Night Hermione sat alone in the common room trying to study, but wasn't getting much done. She had to much on her mind, the look she had seen in Ginny's eyes, only for a split second when she had landed on top of her kept flooding into her mind, bringing with it her greatest hopes and doubts…

'_She has the same feelings, I do for her.'_

_'Doubtful, it doesn't make any sense.'_

_'You don't make any sense!'_

_'Real mature.'_

_'Shut up! She likes me, and I think I like her to.'_

_'No, it was heat of the moment, when you fell on her it surprised her, your scarf was in her face, she thought you here Harry, and after she figured out it was you, the spark disappeared.'_

_'Maybe your right… but I still know I like her… why does this have to be so difficult.'_

_'Because we are both girls, its not normal'_

_'But lots of girls fantasize about other girls… don't they?'_

_'Maybe, but I doubt they fantasize about doing to their best friend some of the things you think about.'_

_'Shut up, you don't know me!'_

_'Um…. I AM you.'_

Hermione let out a small sigh._'Your right… I'm just so confused'_

Her argument with herself was suddenly interrupted by the sound of someone entering the room. "Hey, 'Mione" Said a very dirty, but otherwise happy looking Harry, as he walked over.

She looked up and flashed a smile at the boy, "How was practice?" she looked back at her books for a second before realizing Harrys state, "and why are your robes so dirty?"

"Great," chirped harry as he looked at a chair, then down at his clothing, "I tripped in the mud on my way back here, all the rain lately is turning the grounds to muck." he laughed, " I'm going to go get cleaned up. I'll be back in a bit." and with a smile he turned and headed towards the boys dorms.

Hermione looked back at her parchment, which she was horrified to find that had drawn a picture of Ginny at some point, though she didn't remember when. She crumpled up the paper and threw it in the fireplace wishing she could figure herself, not to mention Ginny Weasley, out.

When Harry came down 20 minutes later with new robes on she was still sitting staring blankly at her new parchment, for the first time in her life she couldn't focus on her homework, every time she blinked the image of her straddling Ginny, and the spark she had seen in that moment, was fresh in her eyes.

"Is something wrong, 'Mione?" Harry said concerned as he sat down across from Hermione in the still empty Gryffindor common room. "You look like you're a million miles away tonight."

"Its nothing," She said without looking up form the blank parchment in front of her. "I'm just thinking…" she trailed off unsure if she should or even could say anything to Harry about her problem.

"You always were a terrible liar, Hermione." laughed Harry looking at her curiously, "Now, what's wrong?"

"If I told you, you'd probably never talk to me again." muttered Hermione more to herself than Harry, but he had heard her, and wasn't dropping it so easily.

"Hermione," Harry sighed, "Nothing you could say would ever make me not be your friend, you're like a sister to me." he said honestly, hoping something was getting through to her.

"I don't know about that Harry," Hermione said finally looking up at him, her eyes full of what Harry thought was confusion, fear and something else he couldn't quite place, but he had seen it before… somewhere, "I just don't know."

"Try me." He said flatly.

Hermione looked down, she couldn't deny Harry, he honestly wanted to try to help her, but she really didn't know what to say or even where to start. Harry noticed her inner conflict and put his hand on hers, the contact making her jump about a foot into the air. "Sorry," he laughed at her reaction but soon the concern returned to him looking at Hermione, visibly shaking, and on the verge of breaking down. He looked around the common room, it was still empty but he had a thought that She would be more comfortable if they found somewhere they would be less likely to be walked in on, before he could say anything though, Hermione burst out.

"I just don't know what to do Harry. I'm so confused. I've never felt like this before. I just… I just… I feel… I … I…" she was beyond visible shaking now, her hands and legs where violently shaking, and tears streaming down her face, soaking the parchment she was still hunched over.

Harry was shocked at how effected the brunette was by whatever was going through her head, but decided he was right and they'd be better off in a more private place. "Hey, 'Mione, I'm here for you. You want to go somewhere more private? Would that be easier?" He was happy when Hermione visibly calmed down a bit and nodded her head.

"Yes, I don't know how much it will help, but yes."

"OK, wait here, its getting late, I'm going to grab the invisibility cloak in case this takes a while, we don't want to get caught out again." he squeezed her shoulder as he got up and ran towards his room.

Hermione couldn't believe she was about to tell harry about her feelings for Ginny.

_'This isn't going to go well.'_

_'Why not? Harry wants to help me.'_

_'Right now he does.'_

_'Why wouldn't he want to help after I tell him?'_

_'...and people say you are smart…. Do I really need to spell it out for you?'_

_'…?'_

_'Harry likes Ginny. Ginny likes Harry.'_

_'Merlin's beard! What am I going to do?'_

_'Run. Now. Just leave, disappear. Maybe he'll forget about it if he can't find you.'_

_'Not likely, this is Harry Potter we are talking about. He has never given up on anything.'_

_'Hell. Your right.'_

_'Well I guess we have to tell him.'_

_'Yep… its been nice having them as friends… I'm going to miss it.'_

_'Yeah…. this sucks.'_

_'Agreed.'_

Hermione looked up to see Harry coming back into the common room. Tears in her eyes again, and a sad smile crossed her face as she remembered everything they'd done together in the last 4 years.

"You ready 'Mione?" asked Harry, holding out his hand, to help the brunette up.

"Yeah." she said sadly, and took his hand, and they walked out of the common room, looking for an unused classroom.

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**A/N: Chapter 1 Up soon! thanks for the reviews!**


	2. Chapter I: Of Weddings and Children

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. All credit for that goes to JKR.**

**A/N: How unprofessional of me to start in the middle of a story, any decent story deserves to be told from the beginning, and since I hope this to be at least a decent story, I would do well to start at the start. So here it is without further ado.**

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Chapter I: Of Weddings, Children and Oddities

The sky was completely clear, not a cloud to be seen, William Granger couldn't have asked for better weather. "Perfect day for a wedding." He said more to himself than anyone who may have been listening.

"As well it should be, Bill old boy!," Exclaimed an odd looking man who had walked up behind him and clapped him on the shoulder, "It is yours, you know! You should be getting ready, not fiddling over last minute details, that's what you hired me for mate." The man was laughing as he said the last. It was true William had hired the Planner, but from the start he had been more of a consultant, someone to bounce ideas off of, instead of planning the thing himself as per usual.

William sighed, "I know that Gill, I just want this day to be perfect."

"And it will be," Gill smiled convincingly then grabbed the grooms arm and made to shove him out of the room, "Now, go get ready. And leave the worrying to me. Well enough you've left me so little to do." He laughed at his comment again as he pushed Mr. Granger into the hallway.

Bill rolled his eyes, "Fine, you win." He smiled at the man, admitting his defeat, for now., "Just make sure everything goes properly, please Gill."

The jovial wedding planner, smiled and laughed, the emotion reaching fully to his eyes, "Don't you worry about a thing." And with that, he shut the door in a worried William's face.

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"Do you William Robert Granger, accept Allison Jean Howell as your lifemate and one true love, promising to share in all that life offers and suffers, to be there for her in times of need, to soothe her in times of pain, and to support her in all endeavors, big and small?" The Minister looked at William, waiting for a response.

"Without hesitation. I do." he said looking directly into Allison's Eyes.

"Do you, Allison Jean Howell, accept William Robert Granger as your lifemate and one true love, promising to share in all that life offers and suffers, to be there for him in times of need, to soothe him in times of pain, and to support him in all endeavors, big and small?" The Minister turned his attention to Allison, again awaiting a response.

She glanced at the minister then looked back into William's eyes, "I do. With all my heart and soul, I do."

"Excellent." Beamed the Minister, "Now, on to the rings."

A young boy, the son of William's cousin, approached with the ring. William gently took the band from the boy and he retreated. William looked back at Allison and took her hand, "I give you this ring, as I give to you all that I am, and accept from you, all that you are." With that he slid the ring comfortably onto her finger, and smiled.

The Minister started up again, "Wedding rings are made precious by our wearing them. Your rings say that even in your uniqueness you have chosen to be bound together. Let these rings also be a sign that love has substance as well as soul, a present as well as a past, and that, despite its occasional sorrows, love is a circle of happiness, wonder, and delight. May these rings remind you always of the vows you have taken here today." He paused for a moment before continuing he smiled.

"And now, by the authority of the Crown, I declare you husband and wife." He looked at William, "You may kiss the bride."

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Sitting in font of a great oak desk Mr. and Mrs. Granger sat nervously, hands clasped between their chairs, waiting for the Doctor to finish reading the report in front of him. "Well?" asked Mr. Granger cautiously, giving his wife's hand a squeeze.

The Doctor, easily in his 60's, and balding badly, looked up from the report. Gazing contently at the young couple through abnormally thick glasses, "Well, from what I can see here, everything looks good." He paused and looked at the joyous expression on Allisons face, "Yes, Mrs. Granger, you are Pregnant, 6-8 Weeks along in fact. I'm surprised you didn't have any symptoms earlier but, it's different for everyone, so really, its not unusual." He looked down at the report again for a moment, as if double-checking something then looked back and addressed the couple again. "Everything looks normal from what I can see here, we will have to schedule several checkups to ensure everything continues normally, but for now, I can happily say that in about seven months, you should be proud parents of a healthy youngling."

"Thank you so much Doctor," Mrs. Granger said, "You have no idea how scared I was when I started feeling ill." She paused and looked at her husband, "We are having a baby!" she screamed, and they both started laughing, it was a happy day.

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"Push Honey, You're almost there. You can do it."

Mrs. Granger had been in labor for 4 hours now, which wouldn't have been so terrible if it hadn't been the second time their child had thought about coming out, but this time looked much better than the first time.

"One more Push Mrs. Granger, I can see the head. Your almost there."

Allison gave it all she could and suddenly there was crying in the delivery room. It was done.

A few minutes later when the room had calmed down enough for things to be rational, a nurse came over with a clipboard and some forms, "I just need one last thing from you and I'll leave you alone for the night." She looked at William then Allison, "What are you going to name her?"

Allison looked at her husband who nodded, they had decided on an unusual name, partially because they wanted the world to know they were both very intelligent, but also for another reason. They couldn't quite explain it, but they both had a feeling that great things were to come of their new daughter, beyond the normal hopes all parents have for their children, or at least they thought it was. Only one name seemed appropriate for their daughter. "Hermione Jean Granger" Allison told the nurse.

"Very Well," said the nurse, smiling warmly, "I'll leave you alone now, and get this done up for you. Good night William, Allison, and good first night to you, Hermione."

* * *

"Good morning Dear," Mr. Granger yawned as he entered the kitchen, "What's on tap for today then? " he asked as he walked over to his wife, and placed a kiss on her neck.

"Not much I'm afraid, I've already gotten seven cancelations for todays appointments." Allison said gravely, it wasn't normal for them to have any cancelations, let alone seven, in one day, from people they knew didn't know each other. "That only leaves us with three appointments today."

"Strange that is, no cancels usually, any of 'em give a reason?" asked a clearly confused William.

"Oddly enough, they did." Mrs. Granger said slowly, still trying to process this herself, "Apparently someone we know, or at least should know, is dead. But I checked the papers, and called around a bit, no one we know seems to have passed."

"Strange." William started, but a small sound, like someone clearing their throat interrupted him.

"Daddy, up!" Mr. Granger looked down to find a small brunette glaring up at him, obviously annoyed with having been ignored for so long.

"Good morning, Hermione," Bill smiled as he picked his daughter up, "how are you this fine morning?"

"Hungry." The 2 year old said flatly. As quickly as she had picked up talking and walking, it still amazed her parents how advanced she was for her age. She was a smart one, no doubting that.

"Well," laughed Mrs. Granger, "What are we going to do about that then?"

"Feed me?" inquired Hermione; she paused for a moment, then added. "Toast?"

"What's the magic word dear?" William asked his daughter, the smile in his eyes betraying the seriousness in his voice.

"Pwease, feed me toast?" the youngster asked again. She could fully pronounce please, but had cought on that mispronouncing it often got better reactions.

"Only because you asked so nicely," The young man laughed, as he put his daughter down and went to start on the toast.

Several minutes later as the family was sitting enjoying their morning, something they didn't usually get to do on a Tuesday. Hermione suddenly looked up from her breakfast and shrieked "OWL!" pointing out the window, she shot up and ran over to get a better look.

Mr. and Mrs. Granger both looked up, and sure enough perched on their fence was a Great horned owl. It sat there for several minutes, then as silently as it had appeared, it opened its massive wings and took off. "Well now," William pondered, "This day just keeps getting weirder and weirder, an Owl in broad daylight? Very strange."

"Agreed." Allison said thoughtfully. Thinking for a moment she looked at the clock, "You should probably get going, your only appointment today will be waiting for you if you don't leave soon." She smiled before adding, "Finish quickly and come home, we'll spend the day quietly, just the three of us."

"Alright, I'll see what I can do." Mr. Granger gave his wife a hug, picked up Hermione and kissed her on the cheek, " I'll be home as soon as I can." He put the brunette down, and with a thought turned back to his wife, "Who didn't cancel by the way?"

"You won't like it." His wife laughed, she knew he hated dealing with the woman.

"Oh no… you mean she didn't cancel?" Will deadpanned.

"Nope, June would never cancel anything, even if the world was ending, she'd be sitting in your office."

"Don't I know it. I swear the woman is a nutter, always on about some sister-in-law she has, supposedly in some obscure government office, I never heard of her, though, I suppose given the state of June that can't be wholly a bad thing." Mr. Granger's day was rapidly going from oddly good to horrible. Undoubtedly his only appointment of the day was going to be punctuated by June Umbridge going on about her sister again and the vague goings on in the office she supposedly worked in. "You sure I can't call, and cancel on her?" he laughed.

"You could, but you know you'd just have to deal with her next week, and she'd never let it go, you'd be hearing about it until you retired." Allison laughed she knew it was true, and it was horrid to laugh at her husbands plight, but she couldn't help but be happy that she didn't have to deal with the woman.

"I know. You're right." He sighed, "I'd best get going, so I can get this over with."

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**A/N II: 4 quick things before I go. housekeeping time!**

**First off, Thanks for the reviews. I'm sure some of you had given up on me by now, letting me know what you think of the actual beginning of the story would be awesome though. ;)**

**Secondly: Sorry it took a while for me to get this up, I've been having internet problems lately.**

**Thirdly: If anyone would like to play quality control and see these chapters before their up (i believe this site calls it beta reading) Feel free to PM me, I don't really know how to go about picking an editor from the beta thing...(I'm kindof new at this whole publishing my stories thing...)**

**And finally: If your in the UK or know about their wedding traditions or laws and the wedding scene isn't accurate could you please PM me , I'm in Canada, so I'm not really sure what I wrote is technically binding in the UK…. Or even remotely appropriate, I'll be happy to fix it though, if I've mucked it up. Always willing to learn.**

**Anyway, that's enough from me for now. Hope you enjoyed and continue enjoying as we move along, as you can probably guess there's plenty of story left to tell at this point!**

**I'll try to have another chapter or 2 up shortly.**


	3. Chapter II: Of Strange Conversations

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter**

**A/N: I know the first couple chapters are feeling kind of slow, but I hope you can enjoy it for what it is for now, there's only 1 more chapter before things really get started, I just felt it was important to give the Grangers some backstory since this story is going to focus on Hermione.**

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Chapter 2: Of Strange Conversations

Mr. Granger's drive to work was uneventful until he got into London. Everywhere he looked people were wearing robes and, as if that wasn't odd enough there were more owls, a lot more, flying all over the place. He just couldn't fathom what was going on to cause all this odd behavior. Still thinking about it when he pulled into the parking lot of his office, he noticed that he wasn't the first one there. There was another car already in the lot, he recognized it immediately... the only person that would be at his office that would drive a bright pink '77 Beetle, unfortunately, was Jane Umbridge. "Well, looks like I'm late… I'll never hear the end of it." He sighed as he got out of his car and headed inside. Waiting for him by door to his office, as he had guessed, was Jane Umbridge, wearing that sickly smile of hers. There was something wholly unsettling about it, always had been.

William immediately assumed his best 'Dr. Granger' air and cheerfully greeted his only patient of the day. "Hello Ms. Umbridge, Sorry I'm late, all this commotion outside, I got held up. Hope you haven't been waiting long."

"Yes, I know, quite a nuisance, took me twice as long as usual to get here! And I was expecting it! All this has something to do with Dolores's Branch of office, or so she tells me. I expect I'll know more once she can clear me to know it." Umbridge smiled gleefully.

'_Always full of herself, this one, thinks she's got herself access to privileged information.'_ Thought William bitterly to himself.

"So what brings you in today?" he asked her, then with a thought that gave him an almost sick pleasure he added, "No, cavities I hope?" He knew Jane would never allow herself to get a cavity, like it would have been the end of the world if she did. His comment did the trick, Umbridge's smile faded instantly.

"Honestly, Dr. Granger, you should know me better than that by now." She said in a scolding voice that made Bill laugh as much as it made him cringe, he couldn't let her get the upper hand in the conversation. "I'm just in for a cleaning, I have a party to go to tonight, and I wanted to look my best."

'_So that's why she's here…a party?' _ He laughed in spite of himself. _'This may be fun after all.'_

"What are you laughing at? There's nothing funny about me wanting to look good at a party! Honestly." She was growling now. William decided that the drive was worth it, to get under the woman's skin, it was almost too easy.

"I will laugh if I want to laugh, Ms. Umbridge" he said sternly, then smiling darkly he continued, "Unless that is, you don't want your teeth cleaned up for your party tonight. All my other appointments today cancelled because of all this commotion. Its no problem for me to get back in my car and go home."

"NO!" Umbridge almost screamed, "I mean, no. I want to get this done, I couldn't show my face tonight without this." She was looking defeated now, and as much as Mr. Granger was enjoying himself, he just wanted to be done so he could go home.

"Lets get on with it then," he said flatly, as he unlocked the door to his office and led Umbridge to an examination room, "Make yourself comfortable, I'll be right in, just have to turn on the equipment."

A few minutes later after turning the necessary lights and equipment for the basic cleaning the pain in his arse wanted, and collecting his thoughts, he entered the exam room, "All right then, we'll be done in a jiff and we can be on our merry way."

"Excellent." Returned Ms. Umbridge

20 minutes later, everything basically done, and Umbridge had been unusually quiet, not wanting to press his luck, but still being very curious about what she may know about what's going on. He couldn't resist so as casually as he could muster, "So, you said you were expecting all this commotion today, right?"

"Yes, " she replied airily, still examining her newly cleaned teeth, "Dolores sent me a message early this morning that I should expect some odd things to be happening today, and that they were related to her lot."

Bill couldn't resist probing a bit, more to see what he may get out of her while she was distracted, "And who were 'her lot' again? I believe you've told me before, but I can't seem to remember clearly." This was a lie, she'd never told him what Dolores did beyond government, but she was distracted.

"Oh she works for the ministry of magi- I shouldn't have said that." Jane paled, she hadn't been paying attention, she had of course fed Dr. Granger a story before about Dolores, but she couldn't remember it.

"Shouldn't have said what? You're forgetting about Doctor-Patient confidentiality." He said as casually as he could.

'_Did I hear that right?'_

'_Ministry of magic? Well that would explain all the robed people on the street… but that something like that exists…. Unbelievable, hopefully she'll tell me more before she runs out of here.'_

"Even so. Its not something anyone outside of their circle is really supposed to know about… honestly that I know as much as I do is a huge risk, and I don't know much."

Jane looked terrified.

"I won't say a word Jane," William said in a comforting voice, "who'd believe me anyway?" he laughed. "So what do you know about this?"

"Well, I guess the damage is done…I couldn't hurt things more… Here's the deal, no charge for the cleaning and I'll tell you what I know, okay?" Umbridge was recovering now, oddly she felt better knowing someone else knew her secret, and they weren't sending her to a mental hospital.

"Deal,"Dr. Granger said eagerly despite himself.

"Alright, where to begin." She thought for a moment then started up, "There's a population of witches and wizards living in the world, they are governed by a branch of government, I'm not really clear on weather they answer to the Prime Minister or the Queen, or if it's the other way around. But last night some huge criminal in their world, apparently just about as bad as Hitler, was killed. What we are seeing though technically illegal for them to show themselves to us, isn't being acted upon with any severity, as you could well imagine, we wouldn't be to worried about laws if England's version of Hitler was killed. That's all I know though, I have no more details, and know almost nothing else about their world. I only know because she's my sister, and she got accepted to one of their schools off somewhere." Jane sighed, and waited for Dr. Granger to politely excuse himself and call the police to take her away… but it didn't seem to happen.

William was sitting dumbfounded by what he had just been told.

'_Witches and wizards, eh? I should bloody well be calling the police to take this nutter away… but for some reason I believe her.'_

'_Why do I believe her?'_

'_Because of everything that's happening today?'_

'_Probably."_

There was a loud crack behind him and before he could turn around to see what had happened someone shouted something, for a split second it sounded like Latin, but then he was unconscious.

"Really Jane, I should have known better than to trust you with that information. Good thing I put a trace on you." Dolores Umbridge stood in the office, with both her sister and her Dentist unconscious, she sighed, if she could have got away with it she'd have just eliminated both of them, but she couldn't, not today. "OBLIVIATE!" she cried and disapparated out of the building.

Some time later both Jane and William woke up, oblivious to the conversation they had, the memories replaced with one where William had found a cavity, and Jane had immediately demanded it fixed, which is what they had done. Charging her for a filling, and cleaning, she left the office, leaving William alone to close up. He couldn't help thinking something was amiss, a feeling which was heightened when he checked his supplies, he hadn't gotten anything out for a filling, and indeed the drills weren't even powered. He'd never liked the Umbridge woman, and so decided not to worry too much about it. He closed up shop and went back to his car. Passing more of the strange robed figures on his way home, but nothing else strange happened, that was, until he had almost gotten home, sitting at a traffic light he noticed movement from the corner of his eye.

"Shooting Stars?" he said in disbelief, could this day get any stranger? There wasn't supposed to be a meteor shower for another few months. He sat watching for several minutes until he was brought back to his sinces by the car behind him laying on the horn. He drove the rest of the way home wondering what on earth was going on.

"Honey, I'm home!" Called William from the door, a small form flew around the corner at him, "Hello Hermione!" he bent down and caught her up in his arms and spun her around. "Where you good for Mum today, love?"

"Yes!" Hermione said rather indignantly. "I'm always good." Will laughed; his daughter always surprised him with her vocal abilities. She was only two, and was talking back like a five year old.

"Welcome home dear, have a nice meeting with that lovely, lovely woman?" Allison had joined them in the hallway now, and was laughing even as she welcomed her husband home.

"I was lucky!" he cried, "I managed to get the upper hand, and it shut her up almost the entire appointment!" he had decided against worrying his wife with the days events, and pushed them to the back of his mind for later review.

"Good for you, honey." Congratulated him, then with a sly smile added, "You'll have to show me how you got the upper hand with her." The tone did not go unnoticed by the two year old.

"GET A ROOM!" Laughed Hermione, and ran back to the living room.

"I swear, she has got to be the smartest child I've ever seen." chortled Mr. Granger, "We are either going to be very lucky or very sorry parents. I can see it now."

"I know Bill, she's going to be a handful. But at this rate, when she gets to school, she'll already have the maturity of a ten year old, so that may be good." Allison sighed. Sometimes she forgot Hermione was only just two, and it would be another three years before she went to school, "Anyway, Love. What do you want to do tonight?"

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**A/N II: Well thats another chapter done. like i said 1 more, the next one takes us right up until the day before Hermiones 11th Birthday! so things will get going a bit more interesting form there. I hope I'm not boring the few people who've started reading this.**

**As always, reviews are great, If i'm boring you guys, let me know!. **


	4. Chapter III: Of Birthdays and Camping

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, and since I am not, nor am I ever likely to be named Lord Ferguson, I doubt I will ever have the funds to own it. Its all JKR, I write for fun.**

**A/N: Another Chapter folks, Sorry but I seem to have lied to you all, this chapter only takes us up to the summer before Hermione's 10th birthday.**

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Chapter 3: Of Birthdays, Camping Trips, and Strange happenings

It was early Thursday morning when Hermione woke up. She stared at the ceiling for several seconds blinking the sleep out of her eyes before remembering what day it was. Shooting up with the realization, she covered the distance from her bed to her door in a second before noticing the clock, it was only five thirty-seven in the morning, reluctantly, she crossed back over to her bed, knowing that she had to wait.

She passed the time before she was supposed to be up, by doing something her teachers hadn't been pleased she was doing before she had started school. Reading. She didn't have any books in her room that she hadn't already read, so she picked up a random book and flipped through it, she stopped after a while and stared at the ceiling, lost in thought

'_I still can't believe I was almost punished for being able to read before I started school.'_

'_Really they should have been happy, I mean, Mr. Jones started teaching the class about letters and shapes, are we really expected to not learn that before our school years?'_

'_I can't be that unusual, can I? I knew the alphabet before I was three, reading on my own before my fourth birthday or so Dad tells me, at least he's proud of me.'_

'_Yeah, him, mum, and your grandparents seem to be the only ones happy at your smarts.'_

'_Seems that way most days, doesn't it?'_

'_Yep.'_

Indeed if Hermione had not taken complete enjoyment in knowing the entire course work of her year before she went through it, her first few years at school would not have been at all enjoyable. Her teachers, who were all to use to students struggling with the course work, often didn't know what to do with the girl, she seemed to know what they were going to say before they did. Her classmates weren't much better, wanting nothing to do with the know-it-all unless it involved being hurtful. She asked questions that were months ahead of the rest of the class. More than once Staff at the school had caught her reading books from the year ahead of her. Letters had been sent home, meetings had been requested, which, her father had told her, after much prodding, had not been pleasant ones, though he assured her that he didn't mind how much the administration yelled at him and her mother, if she was happy and learning at her own speed. Indeed he had confided privately in her that he found it quite entertaining being called into the school once a month to see what knowledge she had acquired or inquired about that they took issue with.

'_Still, as much as he says he finds it funny, I'm really taking time he could be using for mum or with his patients.'_

'_Yeah, I should try to stop asking questions so far ahead.'_

'_Hmm… probably, follow the rules, stop giving the school reasons to yell at Mum and Dad.'_

'_Okay, that settles it. From here on, I'm going to do my best to follow rules.'_

'_Ha! You're never going to be able to go at the turtles pace the school wants.'_

'_True. I'll just be more discreet about the fact that I know all the answers months ahead of time.'_

'_I doubt you'll be able to do that for long.'_

'_Shut it.'_

Hermione looked at the clock, Seven fourteen. "Bloody hell, now I'm late!" She shot out of bed through the door and into the bathroom.

* * *

Fifteen minutes later in the kitchen William Granger was just plating breakfast when his daughter walked in, looking a bit vacant. "What's wrong kiddo?" he asked warmly, placing a plate of bacon and eggs in front of her, and taking a seat across from her.

Hermione looked at her dad for a moment making up her mind not to tell him about her decision just yet. "Nothing Dad, I just woke up late."

"You're a terrible liar, Hermione." Mr. Granger laughed, "and besides that I heard you awake before six this morning."

"Nothings wrong Dad, okay? I'm just tired I guess."

"Still holding out, eh?" he laughed as the toast finished. Tussling his daughter's hair as he got up he continued, "I'll crack into that nut yet, don't you worry!"

Hermione was glad she had such a good relationship with her father. For better or worse he always knew when something was bothering her, and she could tell him mostly anything. "Oh, probably." She said flatly.

At this point, her mother had burst into the room with a few brightly wrapped presents, interrupting the conversation, "HAPPY BIRTHDAY MY BABY!" she screamed. "My, my, eight years old already, time flies." Allison pulled her daughter into a bear hug.

The brunette squirmed, "Thanks Mum. Morning." She wasn't nearly as close with her mother, there were a lot of awkward attempts at conversations and mother daughter moments, but Hermione just didn't feel the connection she felt with her father.

Letting go of her daughter, she smiled waving towards the pile of gifts, "You can open one now, and the rest are for tonight."

Hermione looked at her mother, and suddenly felt a very odd sensation, looking into her mother's eyes, she suddenly _knew_, what every gift was. She saw her parent's buying and wrapping them. She blinked a few times.

'_What was that?_ _Did I imagine that, or did I just see what all of my gifts were, when they were bought and how they were wrapped?'_

"Is something wrong dear?" Her mother looked at her curiously.

Realizing that she must have a dumb look on her face she responded quickly "No, I'm good Mum."

'_Am I okay? What's going on? Am I going crazy?'_

"I choose that one." She pointed at a small rectangular gift, which if she was right, was a copy of '_The Unfinished Tales'_ by Tolkien, a book she had practically begged for over the last six months and, if she was right, couldn't wait to escape to her room after school and start reading it.

"What on earth?" Allison breathed staring at the package. It took the girl a second to realize why; she was still pointing at the package, but it was now levitating, floating slowly towards her directly in line with where her finger was pointing.

"Well now," whistled Bill, "that's new." As he said this he noticed his daughter was wobbling a bit and bolted forward as she fell, dropping his coffee mug, which was, unfortunately, one of his favorites, causing it to shatter, managing to scoop her up, and place her down gently on a sofa in the den.

* * *

Unnoticed by the family, they were being intently watched by a cat, which was currently perched in a large tree in the Grangers back yard. If they had noticed the animal, they may have noticed the odd markings around its eyes that had given its true identity away to the other 'animal' that had silently landed on the branch behind her.

'_Min, I had no idea you were such an avid people-watcher.' _The cat started and almost fell out of the tree.

'_Filius! I do wish you wouldn't do that. We don't all have the luxury of being able to fly you know.' _ The cat known as Min responded, _'and to answer your question, I'm normally not. Only when it comes to this Granger child, her power is amazing, how long have you been here?'_

'_Long enough to see the summoning charm she just did, I assume she did something else before it for you to comment on power.' _The owl responded, turning its gaze back to the goings on in the Granger household.

'_It takes very good observation to notice what she did just before,' _Min said mystically, the owl gave her a look saying he required more information. _'She looked into and beyond her mothers eyes Fil. What do-'_

'_SHE DIDN'T!' _interrupted Filius,_ 'there hasn't been a case of underage Legilimens in recorded history.'_

'_Not since Rowena Ravenclaw.' _Supplemented Min

'_Do you know what this means Minerva?' _Filius was astonished.

'_We can't afford to jump to conclusions Filius, we need to continue watching the Granger girl, unfortunately Dumbledore won't allow anyone near Potter.'_ Admitted Minerva,_ 'I don't even know if he's safe.' _

'_What of the others?'_

'_Its to early to tell unfortunately, I wouldn't even be thinking about it if it weren't for what I've seen here tonight. However, this is not the place to be talking of such things. Will you join me for a drink in my office, Filius? We have a lot to do and only a few years to do it I believe.'_

'_How did I know that letting you in on our secret would do us a world of good?' _Filius remarked as both the cat and owl disappeared with a snap.

* * *

After making sure his daughter was okay and not in any immediate danger, Mr. Granger returned to the kitchen where Mrs. Granger was still sitting in shock, staring at a point on the far wall.

'_I can't quite place it, but something tells me that Hermione did that.'_

'_Hmm, doesn't really look like Allison's put the pieces together yet…'_

'_True. Perhaps for Hermione's sake I should avoid the suggestion for now.'_

'_Agreed.'_

He moved to pick up the larger pieces of his mug, which had been, sadly, one of his favorites. As he was doing so Allison regained her senses, "W-What was that?" he heard her ask.

"I'm not sure dear," he responded cautiously, "wind maybe, a ghost? I really don't know." He laughed, trying to make light of the situation, knowing his wife wasn't handling it well, and if he was honest with himself, he didn't know how he was.

"I think-," Started Mrs. Granger still finding her words, "I think I'm just going to go to work now. I need some time to try to figure this out. Maybe take my mind off of… whatever it is that just happened." She finished still looking shocked.

"Okay, when you get in, can you get Megan to cancel all my appointments today? I think I'm gonna stay home, I'll call the school and tell them Hermione isn't going to be in today." He caught himself almost pointing the finger at Hermione and added, "I think she took this worse than either of us."

'_Close one.'_

'_Yeah, but why am I taking this so well, and why am I trying to hide this from my Wife?'_

"Okay dear," Allison said, somewhat dejected, William was the only one that would ever be allowed into her daughter's head, and maybe she had some idea what had happened. "I'll see you tonight then."

* * *

Bill Granger had set himself to work cleaning the house and had turned on some music to help with the silence. His stereo system hummed away for the next several hours, stopping only when he had to change records, the man had a top of the line CD player, in a box, in the closet, which he had gotten a few months previous for his birthday, but hadn't bothered opening, Bill preferred records, they had better sound quality.

Shortly after putting on '_Moondance', _Bill noticed Hermione stirring, he let out a breath he'd been holding for the last few hours, smiled, gave her a few minutes to get herself functional, then leaned over the back of the sofa, still unnoticed by the young brunette, who was relaxing, eyes closed, listening to the music that filled the house. Trying to keep from laughing from what was about to happen, he suddenly spoke up "Welcome back sunshine, how's your head?" He'd had the intended effect.

Hermione jumped about a foot off the sofa (an accomplishment in itself, as she was laying down at the time) and shrieked "Dad!"

Mr. Granger just started laughing.

* * *

"Hermione Jean Granger!" Allison screamed into the house, "Hurry up, we need to get going if we are going to beat traffic!"

"Just a minute Mum!" Hermione spat back from her bedroom, "I need to find one more thing, all my other things are already in the car!"

As a promised reward for getting top marks in her year, the Grangers were going camping, Allison had thought it an odd idea of a reward for the girl, but Bill had been all for it, saying "Oh, she just wants to see what its like. Who knows, maybe she'll like it, then we could go camping, fishing and hiking all the time." In Allison's opinion Bill was far to excited about this.

"Honestly, I don't see the appeal." She had deadpanned when her husband and daughter had cornered her about it. "Going out in the middle of the woods, with no electricity, no running water, no comforts, to sit in the dark freezing, getting dirty, I Just don't think it's the proper thing for a girl to do." She finished hoping they would take the hint. However it hadn't worked, and now it was the day they were going, she had failed at all attempts to talk them out of it. Mrs. Granger was none to pleased to be leaving civilization for a week, she had even offered to stay and watch their office, but Bill had countered that they had a junior office manager for a reason, and there was no real need of her in that week.

"Found it!" Hermione came running out of the house, a wide grin on her face. She flashed a grin at her father, and showed him the item she had been looking for _'The Unfinished Tales, JRR Tolkien' _

"Of course!" William smiled, it was the book he'd gotten her _before_ she'd asked for it, earlier that year, "What'll this be, third time?" he laughed at the mock indignant face his daughter put on.

"No! Fourth!" she laughed unable to maintain her look. As both father and daughter regained their breath, they happened to glance at each other again a split second to long; both were on the ground laughing, leaving a confused looking Allison, who hadn't seen what her daughter had in her hands, standing by the car.

* * *

"Almost there kiddo." Will called from the driver seat, Hermione had been reading since they got in the car. _'Best thing I've ever bought her' _he thought happily.

Hermione looked up and smiled at the knowing look her father was giving her in the rearview. "Thanks again for the book Dad, I love it."

"You're welcome," He laughed, "for the two-hundredth time." Bill couldn't believe 10 months later and his daughter was _still_ thanking him for her birthday present. "You know, one would think I'd gotten it after the hundred and ninety-seventh time. You should give your old dad some credit you know." He said with a mock hurt face, that he couldn't hold and started laughing, shortly followed by the rest of the car.

* * *

Twenty minutes later after gathering all their stuff out of the boot of the car. The Granger family was hiking up a trail to their campsite in the Forest of Dean. Allison had a bad feeling about this week. Something was going to go horribly wrong, she just knew it.

The campsite was a small clearing in the forest, a short walk away from a small pond. After setting up the tent, William and Hermione immediately went over to the pond to see if there were fish in it, after a few minutes watching, the pair hadn't spotted anything, but being a bit worn out from the hike, they decided to try their luck there anyway.

Two hours later Allison had joined them, and was standing ankle deep in the pond they had determined held absolutely no fish, when the first of many unfortunate events happened. Missing a step while trying to go a bit farther into the lake, She fell into the knee-deep water, soaking herself, and earning her a cut on her foot. Bill was right there to get her out of the water and Hermione had produced a towel seemingly out of nowhere, so after a few minutes of shock and making sure she was ok, the three were laughing about the incident. After a while parents went back to the tent to fix dinner, and Hermione found a nice shady tree, sat down under its bows and got lost in her favorite book.

The next day Hermione and her father were reading and listening to the radio, and Allison had decided to go for a little walk. The sky was a dark shade of grey, but the forecast had called for no rain this week, so she wasn't particularly worried. Twenty minutes into her walk however, the sky opened up, and let loose a torrent of unseasonably cold rain. Sprinting back to the tent, she found her husband outside under an umbrella waiting for her, with another dry towel. The downfall had put out the fire completely; Allison didn't get warm that night.

Sunday dawned, both Allison and Hermione had colds, from the night before, Bill lit a fairly large fire and all three sat around it most of the morning to stay warm, by noon the clouds had started parting and the sun was out again, shining warmly. Bill spent that day hiking around with Hermione, who had recovered more quickly than her mother, gathering fire wood, and looking at another book they had brought, keeping an eye out for edible plants.

On Monday, Allison attempted to prepare some of the things her husband and daughter had collected for food the previous day. All three ended up with slight food poisoning, effectively ending the productivity of that day.

No one was feeling particularly good on Tuesday, as such the day was spent mostly in solitude, Bill read, Allison slept, and Hermione spent the day wandering the forest, looking at the trees and plants, trying to remember things about all of them. The odd time she caught sight of the forests native inhabitants she tried to name them and remember what she'd read in books about them. After a time she sat down in the shade of her tree near the pond, pulled out _'The Unfinished Tales'_ and got lost in her book again.

Wednesday came on like a bull, strong winds whipped at the campsite in the early hours of the morning, causing Bill to worry about their fire and stay up tending it from four AM onwards. By two PM, the wind had died down enough that the family thought they would try the kites Mr. Granger had bought specifically for this the camping trip. Several hours later, with one kite lost to the battle with the wind, they acknowledged that the wind had won the battle, and the war, and gave up on kiting, instead just siting around the fire in contented silence.

Thursday morning it was time to pack up and head home, after making sure all her stuff was packed and her father's assurances that she needn't help with the tent, she took a last walk around the camp site, trying to commit every detail to memory, she noticed on a tree a bit into the woods someone had carved their initials into it.

"AKP"

The carving looked ancient, but it gave her an idea. She ran back to her bag and got out the survival tool her father had given her and ran back to her tree, on it she carved

"HJG"

She smiled, and walked back to the campsite, were her parents were just finishing picking up the last few pieces of trash. They hiked out of the forest back to Mr. Granger's car, and started home.

* * *

"Never. Again." Allison deadpanned, "That was horrid." She glared at her Husband and daughter, who were talking about their recent expedition as if it had been the best thing ever.

"But why?" Groaned Hermione, "It was so much fun!"

"I'll second that!" quipped Bill.

"Fun?!" said a flabbergasted Allison, "You call that fun?! I fell in a lake, we didn't get to have any fish, I cut my foot open, I got rained on, we got colds, and the wind was horrid. Not to mention the food poisoning!" how they could call the trip fun was beyond her, it had been possibly the worst week of her life.

"Yes, but," countered the young brunette, " We got to go fishing, live with only the bare essentials, sit around a camp fire, sit reading in the forest, go nature hiking, and wildlife watching. It was such a good test of my knowledge!"

"I'm afraid I'd have to agree with you kiddo." Bill gave his wife a good-natured smile, which was not returned, "That was quite a fun trip."

Allison was exasperated, "THEN YOU GO! BUT I WILL NOT! EVER!" she screamed and stormed out of the room to the garden.

Bill knew he had stepped into a hornets' nest, and somehow taken Hermione with him. Seeing his daughter one moment so full of happiness and wonder, the next, as his wife stormed out, so full of despair, he couldn't take it, his wife was the only woman he could ever love, but his daughter was entire world. Allison could wait; he needed to console the now morose brunette in front of him.

* * *

**A/N: Thanks for the reviews guys, I told myself I was going to respond to them when I started this, but I seem to have not been doing that, something I intend to rectify here. If you've reviewed but your not here as of 01/12/13 I've sent you a PM.**

**Anonymous posters: thanks for the reviews, though I don't know who you all are, I appreciate the feedback. Specifically at "Anon" the situation with Umbridge will become apparent when she become relevant in the story again, which is not going to be for a while. I'm evil I know. :D**

**LoveHermioneGinny: Thanks for that, I knew the mom – mum thing, but forgot about it completely in my writing.**

**: That people enjoy the musings of an unusual mind is much appreciated!**

**Miss.H. Granger : I have gathered an editor for now, though shes not a fan of the parings I'm writing, so no idea how long she'll be a willing candidate after first year. – and I must say your pen name is possibly the best. ;)**

**and Finally everyone who supported me when I was thinking that I was a brainless git for having this idea, and thinking no one would like it, the community has you, more than myself, to thank for this story existing!**


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